Closing levee breaches top priority

The Army Corps of Engineers was focused Tuesday on finding a way to close the levee breaches in the Industrial Canal and 17th Street Canal that have let waters pour into New Orleans, state officials said.

Col. Jeff Smith with the Louisiana National Guard said the Corps has informed the state that they are beginning to plan how exactly to fill the holes in the levee, which observers described as several hundred feet long.

Smith said the Corps might fill large cargo containers with a heavy substance, such as sand, which would then be plugged into the gaps. "It would be better than just sandbags, " he said, adding that Corps officials haven't figured out exactly what they will do. He expected that work could begin later this afternoon or in the morning.

After a flight over the devastated region, U.S. Sen. David Vitter said that he could see three breaches in the levees, including a 200 feet hole in the 17th Street Canal, as well as two separate gaps encompassing a total of about 500 feet in the Industrial Canal on the St. Bernard side.

The focus of state and federal agencies on Tuesday remained rescuing people who are stuck on rooftops or attics, surrounded by water and unable to escape. The state has begun moving people out of hospitals in downtown hospitals, including Big Charity, which Gov. Kathleen Blanco called "out of commission."

Blanco said that while search and rescue operations continued that officials were also getting supplies to hospitals and people who sought refuge at the Superdome (Katrina photos: Superdome), which is receiving more residents as people are rescued. After officials have completed all of their rescue operations, they will begin to assess how to evacuate other people in the city who are in high, dry locations.

Bill Lokey, the federal coordinating officer for FEMA, said they would like to begin evacuating people who aren't in danger within a couple days.